[Japan] Karakura Town

[Bloodedge]

"Keep it to yourself," the silver-haired woman replied. She seemed to have only been capable of truly tolerating this close proximity to Benihime for a matter of seconds, and now, she stood with her arms folded while awaiting Raizen's next move. To her dismay, said move would not be involving him leaving.

Raizen's eyes remained on their target until the Hollow was no more, but there was something more to be witnessed here. Even with the enemy's death, Raizen called forth the Reiraku for the area. He honed in on the one belonging to this Hollow, which should have faded as it died. The ribbon remained. "Hourin!" Reaching out to grab the ribbon, Raizen conjured his spell around it, shrouding it in an orange rope of energy which led to its source. He also forced the electrical spell, Tsuzuri Raiden, through the thread when it seemed to ensnare something nonexistent. This caused an invisible globule of what seemed like flesh to become visible. On this piece was the mark of the spider that had once been on the Hollow, and it was now writhing as if it felt pain in its capture. "Sou ka," he said before, surprisingly, letting it go back to its home in Hueco Mundo. "One more thing I wish I hadn't been right about." With that, Raizen turned toward the others, and stepped toward Benihime. "Spellweaving is not to be underestimated. There's a myriad of combinations that can have very interesting effects. If I'd been allowed to, I would have given that lesson at the academy as well. Now... onto more important matters," he said as his tone became of a more dire persuasion. "You may consider it a good idea to not rely on your Zanpakutou so much. One should not be developing so quickly."

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka, you too, alright then..." she said of the woman who seemed to have some problem with her she didn't know about. This was an oddly common thing for Benihime at this point, but something about this woman had initially made her think this wouldn't be the case. She felt familiar, outrageously so, and given her speech to the girl she'd been looking at her for a few seconds too long, and the feeling clicked in the girl's mind. Her eyes widened and she hopped out of her own Zanpakuto's lap and took the seat. She'd find herself leaning her chin against the palm of her hand, "I feel dense now, I didn't realize it before," the girl said, of the Zanpakuto specifically without realizing it.

But that wasn't all there was to be seen. Raizen soon captured something invisible which seemed to be the marking which had belonged on that Hollow before it'd been obliterated. A frown came to Benihime's face as she realized that this meant that all of the Hollows with this marking hadn't truly been slayed. "That is going to make me really upset and then really happy again later. Having to kill something more than once is a pain in the ass, but at least I'll get to do it again~" she said thinking about the fact that the first Hollow she'd properly killed with her Zanpakuto was likely going to resurface at some point, bringing with it all the unpleasant feelings associated with it. After Raizen spoke on the usefulness of spell weaving the young redhead could do nothing more than agree. "Hai hai, though to be fair, that isn't really a first day lesson for most." she said as she finally returned her attention to her Zanpakuto.

The speech of this hooded being was one which made the girl frown ever so slightly, but before she spoke on that, the tone of Raizen's voice shifted just a tad, warning her against the rapid development of her Zanpakuto. "Yes, I am fully aware that the speed at which my Zanpakuto has been developing is fairly extreme. Fun fact though, I've only properly used it thrice in the last 9 months, not counting our little match up in the tournament. I'm far from relying it on it for any reason, because I am innately suspicious of anything being so nice for no reason," the girl said."Not that I don't appreciate the advice but, technically speaking your Bankai developed in 2 years and your Zanpakuto Spirit walks around like she's normal people. Seated and everything... bit hypocritical~" the girl mentioned as if these developments amused her, only to have her eyes narrow when she looked to her own Zanpakuto. "Which brings me back to you, didn't ask at the time because I was far too busy, but how the hell are you just walking around?" she asked of the Zanpakuto who had gone from sitting with the girl in her lap. "Oh and obviously its possible, she's here but that isn't really something I expected of myself." she said her head ever so gently nodding in the direction of what had to be the Zanpakuto spirit that belonged to Raizen's Mugen. "The shrouded man let me out, you seemed like you could use a hand." said the Zanpakuto Spirit. "See... and this is exactly why one shouldn't trust a voice not their own in their head. Shrouded man lets you out of the dark forest and you just take a casual stroll," the redhead seemed annoyed but there was far too much going on in her day for her to stay angry for more than a second or two.

[Bloodedge]

"Three uses and that much development is exactly why I advise against continuing to use it," was Raizen's immediate reply. It was then that Benihime spoke of the hypocrisy found in his advice. Raizen's left hand rose to rub the bridge of his nose with its forefinger and thumb, and a sigh escaped him. "Yare yare. Gomen; I've gotten used to dealing with other types, who don't question things. Sadly, it doesn't seem like you've questioned enough. The deaths in your family... There's only one thing they could have had in common. You remain 5th Seat because your family is cursed with death at higher ranks, but that's not the curse at all."

When Benihime moved on to questioning her Zanpakutou spirit's ability to be manifested in such physical form, Mugen peered through the corner of her eye at the pair. Since it became apparent that this woman knew of her existence as a Zanpakutou spirit, she chose to speak on the matter. "That would be Raizen's, or more specifically, my doing. It should be pretty obvious now that you've put together the fact that I'm here."

[Apollymi]

Benihime found herself with the most bemused smirk her face could possibly manage. She sat cross legged in her throne as Raizen commented that the sort of developments she was experiencing were exactly why he didn't think it wise for her to continue using it. Still there was a matter of how much she seemed to question these moments and he went on to apologize for underestimating her ability to question things. But that soon moved on to a statement that she didn't question enough, because, soon after he went on to state that the connection between her family and their deaths had nothing to do with their seating. She looked at him and nodded. "Hai, their deaths came with the ability to use Bankai... more likely the maturation of their abilities," said the girl who'd been looking into this far longer than she'd let on. But then, she'd had much more free time than she let on. "Still haven't figured out why though, couldn't find any information on that, and I spent months combing through the information in the Daireishokairo," she said, knowing she'd been questioning this of all things much longer than she'd let on. Though it made her wonder why this man had bothered looking into something which didn't directly concern him. Such a thought made her look at the man quizzically, she still didn't know why he was bothering in such a way.

Moving on the Zanpakuto Spirit Mugen mentioned that the freedom of her Zanpakuto Spirit was something which she was solely responsible for. This made Benihime turn to the woman and nod. "Hai, I'm aware of that too. But I can't hear her thoughts and I wondered if she'd try lying to me, knowing that it was the case. So I asked..." the girl said. This made her Zanpakuto look at her as if confused. "I've never lied to you," it mentioned, which made Benihime frown. "Fair enough, but you also weren't exactly forthcoming with information while I looked into the deaths of my family... meaning you knew what I was looking for before I looked for it, but didn't just tell me when you obviously know. There is also the fact that you are exceedingly generous with power, and you're definitely trying to devour me, can't say I'm looking forward to it. Shit like this is why I have trust issues, Yakouboku." she mentioned having pieced together the rest of the information regarding her own Zanpakuto by making a few choice inferences with the information she already had and the pieces that Raizen confirmed by his warnings. Her Zanpakuto spirit managed to look more than a bit surprised by the girl's assertions while she wasn't in her head, she could do nothing but further confirm the girl was way too clever for her own good. Obviously the push of her own developments was something of an experiment to see how far it would allow her to go, as she tried to figure out her own way around it. The reason the girl was fine with maintaining her low seat, and the reason she was fine flying under the radar is because she was actually looking for a way to save herself.

[Bloodedge]

"Benitsubaki," Raizen spoke. This single name was the root of this family's curse, and was also the core reason Zanpakutou existed. "In ages past, a woman reached into a Kyougoku named Apocrypha to gain power from it. She gained that power. In exchange, this particular Kyougoku kept a link to its power, and took it back when the creatures the power made gained the memory of its ultimate form manifested through Benitsubaki. Kyougoku all function based on memories; this particular one consumes them. In gaining the power of 'darkness,' Benitsubaki doomed herself to be reduced to the weakest possible state soon after reaching the limits of the power she'd been offered. Benitsubaki was with child when the power was given. Kumori Rikuo, the creator of Zanpakutou, forged these weapons to channel a Shinigami's power into another source to try and take away the curse, but his own abilities were too great to truly limit a Zanpakutou's power. Eventually, Shinigami discovered Shinuchi, which we now know as Bankai. Bankai is nothing more than what used to be the full use of a Shinigami's power." As Raizen spoke, he drew closer to the throne Benihime sat upon. Eventually, he took a seat on the chair's arm, crossing his own arms as he rested. "It has never been the fault of the Zanpakutou, but instead the Zanpakutou's power. When Bankai is utilized and the Kyougoku is satisfied with the knowledge, the memories it can gain from that incarnation of its power, the Shinigami is stripped of that power. Imagine the fight where a Shinigami requires Bankai, and suddenly loses every ounce of their power."

[Apollymi]

Soon enough Benihime was having her question answered directly for once in her life. She was so stunned by the occurance she found herself quietly listening to the story of a distant ancestor who'd taken on a power from before Zanpakuto existed. And had this power reclaim memories at the time when the Shinigami reached its ultimate power. Doing so would leave the Shinigami without the ability to use its power right at the moment which they likely needed it most. Raizen was now sitting on the side of the girl's throne, "Sou ka, that's... the first time anyone's ever been able to answer a question I had. Arigatou Gozaimasu~" the girl said, but this obviously wasn't what she was actually thinking at all. What was actually in her head was a question as to why this man had this information to give it, and why he cared enough to look into when it didn't directly affect him in any way.

Given what was said here, it seemed that it made sense that no one had been able to properly find out anything about this problem in her family and why they'd just accepted it. No one could properly see the connection because no one lived after the point where their power abandoned them. She then got a less than pleasant mental thought about the death of her eldest brother, which made the girl's heart ache, as she realized he probably died alone and confused as to why he couldn't call upon the singular power he developed and trusted when he needed it most, while he was trying to do the right thing. With this information though she had a few more ideas, and it was probably for the best that her Zanpakuto wasn't in her mind right now because it was more than obvious that she wouldn't like what she had to say. "So, achieve Bankai, get to die without it after placing all of my trust in it. Paranoia saves lives, I won't be convinced otherwise. Anyways, sounds fun... I now have something else I need to know, maybe Tatsu-fuku can answer it..." she said thinking about it more, since her line of thought probably wasn't as obvious as most would like she explained. "What happens if I break it? The Bankai I mean..." her sentence ended causing a slight gasp from her Zanpakuto who seemed to as she thought not exactly be fine with the idea.

[Bloodedge]

"It's not the easiest question to have answered. I had to research my own lineage to find the answer. Of course, there's more to it... and I am well aware you're holding onto the curiosity," he said plainly. "Kumori Benitsubaki was among the first to receive a surname, I imagine, due to her abilities. The rest of her family likely went on to take the name you were born with, but she was eventually wed to Rikuo, who took her name. The part where this gets interesting is the part where the pair of them escape a threat by hiding away in the Dangai. Kumori Rikuo still lives, but I believe I may be somewhere down his reincarnation cycle... as you are to Benitsubaki." The longer Raizen spoke, the more comfortable he seemed to get in his seat of choice. He eventually crossed his right leg over his left, and lowered his head while his eyes closed. Benihime produced the theory of a broken Bankai being an answer, but Raizen had already drawn his own conclusions to this. "A broken Bankai may never return to its original self. I agree that limited power is better than losing a life unquestionably, but... if it is repaired in any form, there is still every chance that the curse remains. There is, however... one way I believe would work..."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Raizen understood that the crimson haired lass hadn't asked every question which had come to mind when he'd been explaining the story of this long past ancestor. Even so, she hadn't expected that he'd simply be able to produce an answer to such a question without her having to speak it. The assertion being rather simply that they were reincarnations of the original pair, and that his own other still lived, but the fact that Benihime presently existed most likely meant that her previous self didn't. "Hm, that's a bit much..." she said frowning deeply. "But that kinda explains why they don't really use the Dangai for anything. If there are basically two versions of the same person existing at once. Seems like one of the few valid reasons for law creation~" she said aloud. Though it was at least a valid explanation for why she couldn't manage to avoid seeing this man when she was trying to, and she'd been doing that for quite a while. Whatever the case the girl didn't have anything else to say about it, being reincarnations of people seemed like a really good reason to avoid each other.

Instead her Zanpakuto seemed to take issue with the fact that the small girl had so easily come to the conclusion that she should break her. "Benihime really? You'd just break me, that's your first answer?" she asked as if this was seriously a problem. "Yes, I would. I cut Saya's leg off to give it back to her, breaking things to fix them is always a valid option. And if you didn't assume I'd do the same to myself then you haven't been paying attention..." the girl said, but her Zanpakuto spirit wasn't really upset, after all, even if she couldn't go back to herself it would be a better option than ceasing to exist when the girl died. Beyond this though, Raizen seemed to mention another idea he had for fixing this potential problem. "I'm all ears, but I have a feeling given that pause... I'm not actually gonna like it."

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. Those two were also the reason for the Jigokuchou. Their hiding resulted in them appearing again at a very different time. Though, that all has nothing to do with the fact that... well, frankly, I've been trying to avoid you for quite some time now. Mugen here advised against interactions with you, and I found out why. Benitsubaki's death affected Rikuo in some unmentioned way; tomes say he was never the same. Since then, there have been reincarnations who've affected one another in the same way, so I imagine Mugen was only trying to prevent that," he said, which made the Zanpakutou spirit scoff and look away. "Confirmation. As for this idea... it could potentially end up worse than the natural fate. It could mean execution. Since I've already conducted studies on this, though, I'll continue seeking other means of dealing with this problem. There's no point in the return of my clan if we'll be forever plagued with this problem as well, and I'd like to not personally deal with whatever the problem is. What do you say? Shall we work together?"

[Apollymi]

Raizen went on to explain that the Jigokuchou had been created because those two individuals had popped up out of their own time. Such information was rather interesting and new to the girl and it was rather amazing to her. After all there wasn't much she didn't get to know, and the fact that there was still much to learn made her happy inside. When this topic switched slightly she was presented with the information that Raizen's first incarnation had been negatively affected by the death of his wife, in such a way that he was never the same again. That sounded rough and beyond that he'd been trying to avoid her on the advice of his Zanpakuto, because apparently they weren't the first pair to exist and have their fates repeated multiple times. "Sou ka, nice to know abject disdain for me is rarer than I thought~" she said seemingly amused.

"And to be honest, I've been trying and failing at avoiding you too. You seem to appear anywhere I am even when I don't have anywhere in mind when I go there... it's freaky," she said but again with general explanations on the table this was all a lot less unknown and thus less frightening than it had been before. But seeing how Zanpakuto functioned, Benihime didn't hold this against the woman, who even scoffed as Raizen produced what was obviously the reasoning behind this advice. It also seemed Raizen's immediate idea for fixing her problem was one which could get the girl executed, leaving her to believe it had something to do with the thing which had almost gotten him executed in the first place. But he went on to say that he'd rather not build up his own clan if this could potentially be a problem for him later. When asked if she wanted to work together to help fix this problem she allowed her eyes to flicker over to him. "I'll take us working together on it, but it seems like you get the broken end of that deal, no matter what way its cut. You still barely know me, do you really want to do that to yourself?"